Alabama’s Nick Saban is currently the highest paid coach in college football, making more than $5 million per year. Texas coach Mack Brown makes close to the same salary as Saban, but it’s possible that that Saban could be in a league of his own if any of the Texas Longhorn rumors come true.
There has been a lot of talk about Texas parting ways with Brown, and who would be a better candidate than the coach who has won three of the past four BCS National Championship games? While the rumors started with a joke ESPN’s Paul Finebaum made on Twitter, a report came out today that says someone from Texas contacted Saban’s agent in January.
Perhaps, it's early to pile on Mack Brown, but a reliable source tells me Nick Saban will be visiting in Texas by as early as this Friday.
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) September 8, 2013
While Brown has put up quite a few impressive seasons in his 14 years at Texas, his performance the past few years has left a lot to be desired for a fan base accustomed to winning 10-plus games per season. The Longhorns are currently 1-2, with losses to BYU and Ole Miss. As such, the Longhorns are less than thrilled with the over $5 million salary Brown is drawing. The solution? To hire the biggest name in college football–Nick Saban.
For any Crimson Tide fans seeing, well, crimson at the thought of their three-time national title winning coach being lured away, don’t lose too much sleep over the rumors–Saban says he is staying put. After a report surfaced Thursday that said a Texas regent talked to Saban’s agent back in January, the “Saban to Texas” talk has been at a high.
“Nothing went on that I know of. I don’t know about any of this stuff,” Saban said of the report. “I haven’t talked to anybody about that particular situation. They have a coach there. Every year it’s something. We really love the University of Alabama. We really feel like a part of the community here and we have a lot of good friends here. And, quite frankly, I’m just too damn old to start over somewhere else.”
So it sounds like Saban doesn’t have any interest in Texas, but some are speculating that Saban wants to focus on getting another BCS Championship win at Alabama while he has another top-ranked team, that way a bidding war will take place after the season is over. If that happens, it’s possible that Saban could become the first $10 million per year football coach. While it doesn’t make a lot of sense that Saban would want to leave the well-oiled machine that is Alabama, it is certainly possible that he would entertain other offers later on to get a pay raise.
@ColemanESPN Nick Saban leaving for Texas would be akin to a CEO of Microsoft leaving for IBM.
— William Jang (@bigbang425) September 20, 2013
I doubt Nick Saban leaves but Lord knows he's about to get a pay raise cause bama is gonna.have to match the longhorns offer
— Jordan Chesney (@jordanchesney) September 20, 2013
Texas is on crack if they actually think they're going to get Nick Saban! #TooFunny
— Cameron Davee (@Cam_RTR_Davee) September 20, 2013